It’s a strange story, I think, and I’m not going to comment on the nuts and bolts of it, because when it comes to dealing with the feds, I’m illiterate, and I intend to stay that way. But there was, of course, plenty of aftermath.
The first thing that happened was that fire was set to a mosque in Corvalis, a town not too far from Portland that is home to Oregon State University (The Beavs), where MoMo took courses. I’m not sure if the KKK has an official presence in Oregon or not, but its spirit sure does.
Running a very close second in the ignorance department, if not an outright tie, is the washed-out hag who earns a living at an AM station that pays her to fly her banner of white, heterosexual supremacy in the service of degrading and dehumanizing as many people who do not look, sound and think exactly like her as possible for four hours each weekday. Here’s what she had to say yesterday about the city’s response to the incident. Isn’t it outrageous that the people from the city who are going to meet with the leaders of Portland’s Somali community are a gay guy (the mayor), a chick (Amanda Fritz) and a wimp (the new police chief, Mike Reese, who had the audacity to say he sees his job as one of peacekeeper rather than gunslinger, which of course set off lots of conservatives, many of whom seem to enjoy it just a little bit when people, especially black people, get shot by the cops). Don’t the people at the city understand the Muslim community’s “pecking order?” the hostess wondered. At first, I thought, wow, that chick is earning her keep today, insulting gay people, women, men who do not grunt and groan and paw themselves in public, Arabs and Muslims all in one sentence. It’s impressive. Then I thought, wait, if a panel assembled by the City of Portland consisted of only outwardly heterosexual, married men, wouldn’t that imply a concession to the Muslim “lifestyle”? And aren’t we supposed to hate them? But my confusion was short lived. A few minutes later the self-appointed oracle of white suburban victimhood screeched that when you’re dealing with Arabs, “you don’t send a gay guy, you send a man.” If I didn’t have other things to do – like earn a living – I’d organize an excruciatingly clever, humiliating and effective protest of businesses that advertise on her show until her sorry ass was taken off the air.
But best of all, I found something inspiring, believe it or not, on Facebook. I am “friends” with a persona whose sole mission seems to be to rid the world of the damaging burdens of organized religion. And the persona never fails to deliver. On Monday the status update concerned the use of cell phones at tree-lighting ceremonies. Following the methods of the TSA, the status update read, should cell phone usage be allowed at future ceremonies? Why I didn’t think of that myself I cannot say for sure, but I’m glad someone did. The logic, I think, is beautiful: one incident and everything gets revised. We didn’t start measuring shampoo and lotion and personal lube until someone – one someone – tried to use those ingredients to make a bomb while seated in the coach section. We didn’t start taking our shoes off until one person tried to bring a plane down by blowing his up. So I am hoping that the unfortunate incident in downtown Portland last Friday will be the beginning of the end of cell phone use not just at tree lightings but at any and all public gatherings. There are enemies everywhere, and danger all around, and we need to act accordingly.
